Creating solutions for agricultural research
For nearly five decades, Larry Reynolds, NDSU University Distinguished Professor of animal science, has led cutting-edge research focused on ensuring healthier pregnancies for both livestock and humans.
His work not only strengthens the sustainability and profitability of livestock production across North Dakota and beyond, but also carries profound implications for human health, addressing pregnancy complications that create lasting socioeconomic and medical impacts worldwide.
“My laboratory focuses on ‘Problems of Pregnancy,’ which include infertility (the inability to conceive and establish a pregnancy), poor pregnancy outcomes (primarily reflected by low birthweight) and premature birth. These problems of pregnancy have major socioeconomic and health implications for livestock and for humans as well,” Reynolds said.
The research Reynolds and his lab team are working on will help find solutions for these problems in pregnancy, ranging from how to increase fertility to figuring out how to prevent preterm birth.
“As we say in the lab, ‘What could be more important work than figuring out how to make healthier babies?’” Reynolds said.
Animal agriculture has always been a part of Reynolds’ life. He grew up in a ranching community in the intermountain west, where his family has been ranching since 1850. Although he didn’t initially plan to pursue research or teaching as a career, that path became clear while he was working toward his bachelor’s degree in zoology at Arizona State University.
“I was lucky to find out about and receive a research internship working with a very good animal science professor who was working in a very novel area at the time – mechanisms of fertility/infertility,” he said.
Reynolds has taught at NDSU since 1985. Over the years, his research has been recognized globally, receiving numerous awards, including the NDSU Fred Waldron Excellence in Research Award and the Beacon Award, presented by the Frontiers in Reproduction Advanced Research Training course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Reynolds is also the founding director and current co-director of the Center for Nutrition and Pregnancy at NDSU. Established in 2002, the CNP has grown into a premier hub exploring how parental nutrition affects fertility, fetal and placental growth and development, and postnatal outcomes.
For Reynolds, collaboration with other researchers across campus, throughout the U.S. and throughout the world has been essential for his research as technology advances and new research tools are utilized.
“Because science is so far-ranging nowadays – with “-omics;” bioinformatics/”big data;” various imaging platforms like fluorescence, doppler ultrasound, sophisticated image analysis, etc. – we find that expert collaborators tremendously expand and improve what we can do,” he said.
In addition to his work with other faculty, students have been critical to the research. One of the things about NDSU that stands out the most to Reynolds is the way undergraduate and graduate students are immersed in research from the start.
“To me, that is one of the outstanding things about NDSU – we have a tradition of involving students in research from the moment they walk onto campus,” Reynolds said. “My fondest hope is that they take away some of my passion for and dedication to research and its critical role in improving the world.”
Looking ahead, Reynolds is eager to continue his research and collaborate with others to shape the future of agriculture.
“I hope to continue the cutting-edge research we have done and are doing, and that it continues to involve our many collaborators, students and colleagues,” he said. “NDSU’s role in that is to provide the backing and resources we need to continue and even expand these efforts.”